A new job for Kyle

Earlier this day Kyle accepted a new job.  Just a few hours later I drove the kids downtown where we told them the news over dinner at the Aquarium - just blocks from Kyle's office of six years.  They thought the news was cool for all of two minutes.  Kyle and I laughed at their lack of enthusiasm. I guess we signed ourselves up for that reaction when we plunked them down at a table 10 feet from a 500,000 gallon tank full of gigantic sea life.  The thought was for them to remember this evening for years to come, right?  I think they will remember but maybe for different reasons than we anticipated.  Essentially, the new job won't affect their lives all that much other than seeing a little more of dad. That's a good thing.  

Kyle will transition from firm life to go in house for a local industrial gas company.  He'll officially do that on Jaden's birthday a week from today.  We've been looking forward to this change for quite some time.  His time at a big firm has not been a piece of cake but it has been the road that has brought us, happily, to this point. Looking back I can't help but notice the similarities in Kyle's work ethic during law school and his first job.  He's kept his nose to the ground and excelled in whatever was required of him.  He remembers sitting in his section the first day of law school.  He scanned the room that day and thought, "I may not be the smartest guy in the room but no one will out work me."  Kyle definitely paid his dues in school and work these past nine years. Often times when work became unbearable I think Kyle had good perspective.  He was continually grateful for the opportunity to work and for experience he was gaining.  He'd often say, after an especially long week or even month, "There's always someone else who has it worse.  I'm just grateful to have a job." I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be my reaction when in the thick of it.  I'm learning from Kyle all the time and I appreciate his positive outlook. And I'm very pleased that our kids have his example that I hope they'll emulate.  They'll go far in life if they will pattern themselves after Kyle in most things but especially his work ethic, attitude and lack of entitlement.  I'm sure all of this sounds pretty over-the-top but I don't take it for granted.  I grew up in a home that lacked this example and prioritization.  I am proud of all of Kyle's efforts and achievements with regard to providing for our family.

As trying as those times may have been for Kyle, I can tell you that nothing holds a candle to how nerve-racking the interview process was for him these past few weeks.  I laughed at the analogy he used early on while his firm was unaware he was looking for another job.  He likened his situation to being married to the firm and having two girlfriends on the side.  "Girlfriends" being defined as the two potential job offers that were, ironically, heating up in the same week.  That really is a lot to juggle and Kyle did not wear it well.  He was so unsettled. I wanted to pour cold water on the poor guy.  And then remind him that he'd soon be divorcing his figurative wife (Baker Botts) and choosing only one, new, really good looking, girlfriend (if the feelings were mutual).  And that ultimately, the icing on the cake was that he still had a smokin' hot literal wife. :) I'm kidding.  However, I do not kid when I hope that his new girlfriend treats him well and that they have a very long future together.

Here they are waiting for Kyle to get my car that was parked under his building.  Walking the few blocks back with him was just too much after stuffing ourselves . . . and it was blistery hot the first time we walked over.  Not to mention that Ty is a slow poke.  While Kyle got the car I snapped this shot that has Kyle's office building in the background.  It is the taller white building with the over sized antenna (or at least I think that's what that is).  So long Baker Botts and downtown. 

Jaden tries volleyball

With Jaden's interest in finding out if Volleyball is" her thing" she dove into all things volleyball over the summer.  She first jumped on a YMCA volleyball team.  Followed by participation in two separate, week long, volleyball camps put on by two local High Schools.  She absolutely loved the camps.  But I kid you not when I say that watching her YMCA volleyball games was like nails on a chalkboard!  We've learned that this is a sport where one MUST have fundamentals under one's belt before participating in a game.  It really was painful to watch.  So going forward we plan to have her join club volleyball.  No games until the basics are mastered. :)  As I posted all of these pics I couldn't help but notice how much older she's looking.  She'll be eleven in a couple of weeks!  She exudes tweenism!

"Crazy shorts" day at volleyball camp number one.  Jaden won best shorts.  I won best mom.

The shot above shows Jaden sandwhiched between two of her besties--Reese and Reagan.  They are siblings.  

That rare occasion when something went right for them during the game.  :)  Do you get my drift about the vb games??  

12 years

I'm up late here visiting my mom in St. Louis with the kids. Kyle stayed back. Unintentionally, we are often not together on his summer birthday and our summer wedding anniversary. Since I'm on vacation I wasn't aware of the date. My mom wished me a happy anniversary around noon today. Luckily, Kyle and I anticipated the likelihood that we'd both forget and so we exchanged sappy thoughts over the phone 3 days prior. Of course, we'd both prefer to be together on this day (spending $85 on rubbery lobster) but we see it for what it is: a significant date on the calendar. And at heart, the day we both made the best decision of our lives. Put like that it seems plenty worthy of celebration. Better luck next year.

Ty tries basketball

I'm loving my camera.  These pictures won't do it justice being that they are indoor.  My very favorite shots (that I still need to post) are soccer shots.  But I like these shots of Ty below.  I like them not for picture quality but because I happened to capture the entire shot sequence when manually zooming in and out.  He is playing i9 sports here with his buddy Jake.  Jake's dad (Ryan) and Kyle are the coaches.  Always a good duo.  They coach Ty and Jake's soccer team as well.  Ty is loving his first go-round with basketball. But that's not saying much, he's loved every sport that we've introduced him to thus far.  And he is really fun to watch.  

Love his reaction afterwards.

And if you hadn't already concluded that Ty is my boy then this shot proves it.  I immediately had flashbacks of myself playing basketball after seeing this shot.  This is exactly how I dribbled and ran, with my free arm swinging wide.  Ty can thank his dad for his athleticism and competitiveness, genes that I lack.  I don't know if I should expect any thanks for this gene that I've passed on but it makes me smile to see it.

 

34 for Kyle

Happy 34th to this guy.  He looks happy here but don't let the end-of-the-day pic fool you into thinking the entire day felt like this.  It was a birthday that I think he'd preferred to have been ordinary. Let's just say he's had better birthdays.  Better yet, let's just quickly jot down, for memories sake, what made it stand out.

1. Started off the day with an upset wife from something neither of us can remember now.  Why couldn't I let bygones be bygones this day?

2. His birthday fell on Sunday with church starting at 1:30.  That can ruin anyone's day--1:30 church that is.  But maybe in Kyle's case any church service no matter the time.

3. He was pulled over and ticketed on the way to church.  This was done by an officer who clocked our vehicle while driving towards us on the opposite side of the road and while he simultaneously ate a donut!   Not a joke.  Unfortunately, it was as recent as 4 weeks earlier that he'd received a speeding ticket on our trip to San Antonio.  He'd just finished dealing with that ticket when this one came a knockin'.  With the officer back in his car pouring over Kyle's driving short comings while missing entirely the significance of the day and date on his license . . . or just finishing off his jelly-filled, the kids and I tried to make light of the situation.  It kind of became the silver lining of the day.  We've recently implemented a vocabulary chalkboard in our kitchen.  And with 5 new words under our belts we put them to good use.  It went something like this: 

Me: Obnoxiously leaning over the console invading Kyle's space, "This is the definition of perturbed, isn't it?"

Jade: "I know, right?  Isn't it ironic that you got pulled over on your birthday?"

Ty: Thrilled to be catching on says, "Yeah, that cop is not very clever!" (So he used the word with intent to name call rather then for it's definition mostly.  But it works.)

Me: "If you'd have just been more dilatory on this back road." (We used the definition: slow to act.  And for the record this was Kyle's word of choice, one that I banned after a few days when I realized the kids weren't taking to it but mostly for fear of our children being made fun of. The vocab words have to be words that they'll feel comfortable using or they won't use them and therefore, I think, they will forget their meaning. Plus there's a plethora of less nerdy words out there to be learned.  Okay, plethora is kind of nerdy too.)

Jaden: "Oh look, the officer's bringing you his donut for your birthday!  I'm being facetious."

4. It was after Kyle drove off with ticket in hand that he raised the white flag.  He dropped us off at church, shirking his nursery duties and drove, very slowly, all the way home, in shirt and tie, with his tail between his legs, to wallow in self pity. 

And 3 hours later he rolled up to church to pick us up as a much happier guy.  Thank goodness because throwing fits just isn't becoming of a 34 year old. :)

I love this sequence of Reese loosing it.  I can't remember what was wrong with her.  I don't think she liked the happy birthday song that Kyle was leading as you can very well see.  Or, now that I'm looking more closely, maybe it's because she didn't have a slice of pie!

And I'll go ahead and speak for Kyle when I say this lemon meringue turned the day on its head!  We love you, Kyle, and we promise to make your 35th birthday extraordinary!  Starting that off might only need require that it fall on a weekday, your wife speaks to you, you don't get behind the wheel and you are granted another fresh pastry.

Freedom Over Texas on the bayou

This was such a gorgeous night on the bayou.  In the 9 years we've lived here we've never attended the 100,000 person crowd that the Freedom Over Texas event draws.  We typically are not in Texas over the 4th.  We absolutely love the 4th in Utah or, if we're really lucky, on the beach in San Juan Capistrano, CA.  With this quote that Kyle's family uses rolling around in my head: "Mud and red pepper in anyone's eye, who doesn't get up and celebrate the 4th of July!" We couldn't sit home, even if Kyle's suggestion for the day was a movie marathon.  That just doesn't spell patriotism to me.  We started the day off at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It was our best trip there as it was pretty well empty and it was a treat/rarity to have Kyle with us on this type of outing.   We then left for home to purchased and watch a favorite movie (as in one favorite movie not five)  National Treasurer.  Followed by Freedom Over Texas.  

The price of patriotic hair.  I know it doesn't look like it but she's actually getting ready to smile.

Injured while playing volleyball in the grass (where she somehow had a run-in with concrete) Jaden takes a break and is consoled by Reese.

This shot of Kyle has his office building in the background.  It's the smaller of the 3 shown.

And the real reason we ventured out to the festivities . . . so we could pay an arm and a leg for these sparkly, singing things!  But they bring so much joy . . . for 20 minutes.  It was actually something I was really looking forward to.  Ty got a light up sword and Jaden happily declined anything light up.   

Three minutes in--pure bliss for Reese and her light up.  See?

Tell me this shot doesn't have patriotism written all over it!

Father's Day

Who ever really knows what they're getting in a husband and subsequent father of their children?  Of course, one can't truly know the extent of it until they are in the thick of it.  I lucked out big time.  And my kids hit the jack pot of all jack pots.  We think Kyle is the cream of the crop regarding most things but specifically and especially when playing dad.  

Mush, OJ and a diet coke for the big guy.  That has southerner written all over it.  I've learned that coffee isn't necessarily the morning beverage of choice in these parts.  If you are a true Texan you'd likely pop open an icy cold soda.  Preferably coke, diet coke or Dr. Pepper (that's a DP if your name is Matt Bloxom and you're ordering from Red Robin.  Remember that, Jenny?  It's engraved in my memory.) I guess it makes sense, it's typical that 9 months out of the year our morning temps. start off in the 80's.

The kids were beside themselves when picking out this card for Kyle.  It's the six pack he's always wanted.  Not really.  In fact, Kyle's had many a six pack in his day.  But, apparently, that was before kids.  I have a six pack.